


The Shores of Memory

by FluffyBeaumont



Series: Sufficiency [4]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Demonic Possession, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Love, Mind Control, Mind Control Aftermath & Recovery, Protective Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Psychological Torture, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22932457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FluffyBeaumont/pseuds/FluffyBeaumont
Summary: Spock travels to New Vulcan with S'Toya'skatra, eager to rid himself of S'Toya's invasive presence. Jim Kirk knows something is wrong, but Spock, ever the stoic, refuses to confide in him, and insists on going down to the planet by himself. But when he gets there, he learns he is anything but alone.
Relationships: Leonard "Bones" McCoy/Spock
Series: Sufficiency [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1645168
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	The Shores of Memory

The Enterprise docked at New Vulcan the next morning, and something in Spock knew this. He woke much earlier than normal and lay for a long time in bed, turning over the same phrase in his mind: _Nash-veh ashaya du_. I love you. He hadn’t said it to Leonard the night before, when they lay together, loving each other, and he regretted this. He regretted it bitterly. And now Leonard had left to begin his day, tending to the sick, trying to heal those so recently felled by this regrettable plague, wearing himself out. For as long as Spock had known him, Leonard never did anything by half-measures. He would give and give, until there was nothing left of him but an empty shell – and then he would summon the last drop of sweat or blood or precious psychic energy if it meant one more patient could be healed.

 _You treated him badly._ S’toya’s ever present voice mocked him from inside his own head. _But he is only human, so it hardly matters._

 _He matters,_ Spock replied. _To me he matters a great deal._

 _Really? I find that hard to believe._ A sound very like laughter – nasty, bitter, contemptuous laughter – echoed through Spock’s consciousness, and he was reminded of old Terran superstitions about evil spirits that possessed the virtuous, forcing them to commit terrible deeds. Spock didn’t believe in old Terran superstitions. As a Vulcan, however, he had a healthy respect for the theory of entropy, insofar as the universe tended towards chaos. How this explained S’toya’s…virulent manner…well, it didn’t.

He washed and dressed, ate a light meal that he didn’t particularly want but which he knew he needed, and made his way to his lab. He wasn’t convinced the last iteration of his vaccine had failed, but rather that the disease had itself mutated. He needed to make a few small adjustments – what McCoy would have called ‘tweaks’ – and then run a series of simulations on the new variant. None of the Enterprise crew would be allowed to disembark until they had submitted to a rigorous health screening to ensure none of them were infected. Only then would Spock be allowed to take S’toya’s katra to the Hall of Ancient Thought and see it properly interred in a katric ark. The settlement on New Vulcan was still so new, so vulnerable. The introduction of any off-world pathogen would be disastrous.

”Here you are.” The door of the lab slid open to admit Jim Kirk. He affected a jaunty demeanor but Spock could see that his ever-present worry for the inhabitants of his ship was eating at him. “I wondered where you were. How’s the work coming?” He moved to stand beside Spock. “I hear Bones made you take a break.”

”He did indeed.” Spock was careful not to look at him. Jim knew him so well, he would see immediately that Spock was suffering an emotional injury, and Spock didn’t think he could bear that level of scrutiny.

”Did you two have a…fight?”

”Suggesting we have had a disagreement implies a relationship beyond that of colleagues,” Spock replied mildly. He leaned closer to his microscope and peered at the tissue sample he’d placed there the previous night. It had reacted to the introduction of the vaccine in an unexpected manner that warranted further study.

”Spock, don’t bullshit me. I’ve known you so long that lying to me is pointless.”

”Vulcans do not lie.”

”You’re in love with him,” Jim observed. “Even though you hide it well. Does he know?”

”How soon until we can disembark?” Spock asked. _Eager to get rid of me?_ S’toya’s voice nibbled at the edges of his consciousness. _But we’ve become such good friends._ “I am not your friend,” Spock said, aloud. 

Kirk frowned. “What?”

”My apologies, Captain. I was not speaking to you.” _I was not speaking to you, I was not speaking to you, to you to you not to you not to you!_ “Stop it!” He could feel S’toya now, stronger than ever, pressing at the inside of his head, a discrete, pulsing agony at his temples. I must resist it, he thought. I must maintain control until I can take him to New Mount Seleya. Then I can release him.

”There’s something wrong with you,” Kirk said. He reached out a hand towards Spock, stopped short of actually touching him. “Tell me what it is. For gods’ sake, Spock. Tell me. I can help you.”

”You…” _Not to you not to you_ “You cannot help me. No one…I must deal with this on my own.” He forced himself to make eye contact with Kirk. “Trust me, Captain – Jim – it is a uniquely Vulcan matter and will resolve itself as soon as I am able to inter S’toya’s katra in the accepted manner.”

Kirk didn’t look convinced. “Mr. Spock, I get the distinct impression you’re lying to me.”

_He is._

But of course Jim couldn’t possibly hear the voice inside Spock’s head. Perhaps Spock could find some way to enlist Kirk’s help— _Say anything and I will kill you. I can, you know. I can absolutely kill you. And I will._

Later...

The climate of New Vulcan was not quite as arid as its progenitor, and it orbited a single star rather than the double system of the old planet, but it was as like the original as possible. The hired flitter deposited him neatly at the foot of New Mount Seleya, where S’toya’s parents were awaiting him. He was not surprised to see them, having spoken to them in advance of the event. He greeted them in the accepted fashion, adding, “La' ti ek' ik tor losrak t' ish-veh” as he lightly touched his forehead and the area over his heart.

”Here lies all that is left of him,” another voice said, and, in perfect idiomatic Vulcan, “Wuh vava t' ek' ik au vesh' heh nam-tor heh dungi nam-tor.”

Spock turned, unable to contain his less than Vulcan astonishment. “The echo of all that he was and is and will be.” He gazed at Leonard McCoy. “How is this possible?”

McCoy smiled, his blue eyes filled with a love that Spock could feel even to the marrow of his bones. ”In accepting the inevitable, one finds peace.”

…to be continued…


End file.
